Champions League 2016 Round of 16:
Paris Saint-Germain 2-1 Chelsea
It was a great game of football, very intense and very dramatic as it has been for the past three years between these two teams. Champions League is back and we had many talents on the pitch who played their best. PSG opened the mark with a direct free-kick at the end of the first half but Mikel equalized less than 5 minutes after to level up the game. The second half turned out to be very difficult for Chelsea and they conceded a second goal by Cavani at the 79th minute. The away goal leaves a good chance for the Blues to qualify while PSG has the edge after the first 90 minutes. For sure we will have more dram in three -weeks time.
As the game finished, both coaches react on their team’s performance:
Laurent Blanc – PSG:
“The big regret is to have conceded that goal just before the break. Chelsea had chances and could have scored at another time, but it’s still a shame to have conceded from a corner at that time. This match proves that our philosophy hasn’t changed. From a footballing point of view, I am very happy with my team’s performance, which wasn’t necessarily the case in recent matches. This was a clash of styles and it was a great game. We need to go the Stamford Bridge with the aim of scoring. We will almost certainly have chances. We have to take them. Our lead could have been bigger at the end of this first leg.”
Zlatan Ibrahimovic – PSG:
“I think we played well and I think if we play like that again in London, we will have a good chance of going through. Tonight we played our football. We showed our style of playing.”
Guss Hiddink: Chelsea
I think it’s still 50-50. Of course a defeat is never a good or a nice feeling but you have to consider it’s a two-legged game. Scoring away is always good and we emphasise that. We had good, tactical defensive organisation. On top of that we were dangerous but we were not lethal with the four or five counters we had.
‘It’s not a dramatic loss. Losing 2-1, we are still in the race. We were a little bit nervous in the first 10 minutes. After that we started playing and got some chances and were a little bit unlucky with our final ball. We had possibilities before the equaliser. We had one or two chances to hurt them and they got a little bit unstable by the way we played.’
‘They have a nose for creating danger where you are weak. You must be very alert because if you lack concentration for three or four seconds they will take advantage as they did for their second goal. There are some weeks to prepare for it and I hope everyone is on board for the second leg.’
